“I have had to experience so much stupidity, so many vices, so much error, so much nausea, disillusionment and sorrow, just in order to become a child again and begin anew. I had to experience despair, I had to sink to the greatest mental depths, to thoughts of suicide, in order to experience grace.”

― Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

Introduction to Graces

When a player completes a campaign, they may willingly retire their PC and turn them over to the GM to be used as an NPC. Doing so grants that player one Grace. Graces are special powers bestowed on newly created characters, each one roughly equivalent to half a character level in power. Some Graces start out at a static power level and do not change over time, while other Graces gradually evolve as the new character gets higher in level.

Obtaining Graces

When you complete a campaign, inform your GM that you will be permanently retiring your PC in exchange for a Grace. Your character immediately becomes an NPC under the control of the GM and you are no longer permitted to use them in play (barring special GM-requested circumstances where you will assist in running an NPC.) For retiring this character you gain one Grace, which may be redeemed on creation of another character at the approval of the current GM. The Grace must be chosen from the list below at the time of character creation and cannot be changed once chosen.

A newly created character may only ever have one Grace applied to them, regardless of how many Graces you may have held in reserve from multiple character retirements.

Graces

Mythic Power

You gain one mythic tier.

A character with the Mythic Power Grace might be able to trace their lineage back to legendary heroes of old, or ancient sources of power long since forgotten. Regardless of the source of their mythic strength, a character with this ability commands a power that few on Golarion have, and with this exceptional power can come an even greater responsibility to use it for good or ill.

Relic

You gain an heirloom weapon.

When you choose the Relic Grace chooses one type of weapon or armor in character creation. You are proficient with that specific weapon or suit of armor (and that item only, not even others of its kind) and begin play with a masterwork quality weapon or armor of that type. Your relic could be a family weapon passed down through the generations, a legendary object you happened upon in an hour of need, a gift from a mysterious benefactor who saw great potential in you, or any number of other possible origins. Work with your GM to determine an origin for your Relic Grace that makes sense for your character and the campaign.

As you grow in levels, your Relic Grace grows in power with you. Your Relic may not be enhanced magically as a normal magic weapon, and if it is ever destroyed it can be repaired to full power by performing a ritual to reforge the weapon that takes one day per character level you possess. If you choose a double weapon as your Relic Grace, both heads are considered masterwork, but you must divide up your total enhancement bonus between each head when determining its power at each level. Once you determine what enhancement bonus each head has, you may not change it.

Relic Grace Enhancement

Level

Primary Enhancement Bonus

Secondary Enhancement Bonus

1st – 2nd

—

—

3rd

+1

—

4th

+1

+1

5th

+1

+1

6th

+2

+1

7th

+2

+1

8th

+2

+2

9th

+3

+2

10th

+3

+2

11th

+3

+2

12th

+4

+3

13th

+4

+3

14th

+4

+3

15th

+4

+3

16th

+5

+4

17th

+5

+4

18th

+5

+4

19th

+5

+4

20th

+5

+5

Primary Enhancement Bonus: This number represents the enhancement bonus of the weapon or armor which is added to attack and damage rolls or to the base armor bonus.Secondary Enhancement Bonus: The secondary enhancement bonus is used to determine additional magical effects on your Relic Grace (such as keen on a relic sword, or light fortification on relic armor.) At each level you may choose to apply a number of effects equal to the total secondary enhancement bonus, or you may opt to wait and hold this enhancement bonus in reserve to add a more expensive effect later (such as vorpal or speed.)

Resilient

You gain the maximum number of hit points possible for your class at every level and gain a +1 bonus to your Fortitude save at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.

Characters with the Resilient Grace are extraordinarily tough and difficult to damage, be it from rigorous training or exceptional parentage.

Legendary

You gain 10 additional points to spend on ability score assignment during character creation.

The Legendary Grace represents characters cut from a different cloth, be they the scions of legendary heroes or touched by destiny for a higher purpose. These characters are paragons of heroism or villainy when compared to their peers, possessing attributes beyond the norm for others of their kind.